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Desert Bluffs
'' '' Desert Bluffs is the rival town to Night Vale, featured in The Sandstorm (Part B) and mentioned in several other instances. Instead of a council, it was governed and owned by StrexCorp Synernists Incorporated, and is seemingly a much nicer and cheerier place than Night Vale. It had its own community radio announcer, Kevin (who moved to The Other Desert Bluffs), and its baseball team is called the Sunbeams. Other citizens include intern Vanessa, the staff weatherman Ted, Grandma Josephine and Lawrence Levine, out in the Edge-of-Town development. Desert Bluffs was annexed to Night Vale by Mayor Dana Cardinal in a move that dragged heavy criticism from many Night Vale residents, including Cecil and Sheriff Sam. All of its residents, excluding those who chose to leave (and those killed by the Sheriff's Secret Police) became official citizens of Night Vale. In the episode Taking Off, Kevin decides to name the desert otherworld Desert Bluffs, in honor of his hometown. Attachment to Night Vale After being released from StrexCorp's iron fist, Desert Bluffs experienced an economical collapse and hard recession, that led Mayor Dana Cardinal to announce the union of the two cities into one, greater Night Vale. This union was heavily criticized by many of Night Vale's residents, due to the long rivalry between the two cities. This step was followed by protests, and the Sheriff's Secret Police used to discriminate newcomers from Desert Bluffs and sometimes killing them for no reason. This treatment has seemingly decayed over time, and has still caused many of the newly arrived residents to move to the New Desert Bluffs in the desert otherworld. Relation and Parallelism to Night Vale Rather than descriptions of horrific events and fear-laced bulletins about lurking dangers and imminent peril, Desert Bluffs Community Radio seems to be focused on positive thinking, motivational messages and productivity-focused propaganda, all centered around StrexCorp. It appears that the denizens of Desert Bluffs and Night Vale manifest personalities and perspectives derived in contrast to their respective environments. Whereas Cecil is dour, fatalistic and dark, Kevin is sunny, optimistic and cheerful. As such, the two often see (and describe) the same phenomena in starkly different terms. For example, what Cecil describes as a violent encounter between the two in which he is attacked by Kevin is recounted by Kevin as a profound "moment" of emotional connection in which the two share a warm embrace. Additionally, when Cecil arrives in Desert Bluffs' recording studio in The Sandstorm (Part B), he describes the walls of Kevin's studio as "covered with blood, and instead of dials and buttons on the soundboard there is just animal viscera glistening under the green LED lights," and speculates that he may be in Hell. The same environment seems perfectly normal to Kevin, who had been in the room moments before. Normal is clearly relative to both, as Kevin, (in The Sandstorm (Part A)) mentions how Cecil's equipment is much "drier" than it should be, and how the desk is "bloodless." In short, just as Cecil seems completely accustomed to (and supportive of) the nightmarish, all-seeing occult government of Night Vale, so too does Kevin appear habituated to (and happy with) Desert Bluffs' rule by a ruthless, productivity-obsessed corporate oligarchy. Desert Bluffs seems to be futuristic compared to Night Vale. The Traveler from the future wore a uniform described as "all very similar to the marching band uniform of the Desert Bluffs Cacti prior to the incident," and when Kevin travels through the vortex to Night Vale in The Sandstorm (Part A), he remarks that "the equipment seems much older." Location Desert Bluffs is located near Night Vale in The Empty Desert. Route 800 links the two cities. In episode 19 (The Sandstorm), Cecil comments during traffic that the fistfights between doubles happened on the south bound interstate, while Kevin similarly remarks this incident happened on north bound, which places Desert Bluffs south of Night Vale..Episode 77 A Stranger As of Episode 83, One Normal Town, Desert Bluffs (not to be confused with New Desert Bluffs) is part of Night Vale. Episode 83 One Normal Town Businesses, landmarks and organization * The Desert Bluffs Cacti (elementary school basketball team) ** The Desert Bluffs Cacti Marching Band * The Desert Bluffs Sunbeams (baseball team) * The Desert Bluffs Vultures (football team) * The Edge Of Town development * That hideous sports arena Desert Bluffs built last spring * StrexCorp Synernists Incorporated * The new StrexCorp Distribution Centre * Several pony petting stations * Several yogurt stores * The unfortunate wastelands of Desert Bluffs ** The (possibly nonexistent) windmills that litter the unfortunate wastelands of Desert Bluffs Residents * Kevin, formerly the voice of Desert Bluffs (former resident) * Ted, the staff weather man * Intern Vanessa and her double (former) * Samantha Figgins, new manager of the Desert Bluffs Sunbeams * Laurence Levigne, out on the Edge of Town developement * Grandma Josephine * Former Mayor Pablo Mitchell * Current Mayor Dan Cardozo * Those radioactive four-armed deer who seem to be attracted to the new StrexCorp distribution centre Residents of New Desert Bluffs * Kevin * Carlos (former) * The Masked Army * Intern Vanessa and her double * Other former residents of Night Vale who got trapped in the Dog Park * Former Mayor of New Desert Bluffs Lauren Mallard * Charles, the theologist * Charles's 5-year old son, Donovan Roads * Route 800 ** Exit 66 Behind the Scenes During an interview with Citizen Radio, Jeffrey Cranor revealed that Desert Bluffs is one of the few examples of overt political satire in Welcome to Night Vale. Cranor claimed that the contrast between the more overtly horrible Desert Bluffs' pro-corporate attitude and the less horrifying Night Vale's embrace of big government stem from his own political views. References Category:Locations Category:Cities near Night Vale